Transmission mechanism



me/Wto@ R0Ze1`5.EasZuv 2 Sheets-Sheetl 1 R. R. EASTI N May 24, 1938.

TRANgMIssIoN MECHANISM original Filed March 31, 1936 w n 97% Q MNM@ W 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q WM/ www M l A no May 24, 1938. R. R. EAs'rlN TRANSMISSION MEGHANISM original Filed uarch s1, 195s n uw Patented May 24,. 938

UNH-ED STATES PATENT ori-ICE Castator, ten percent to Walter Burns, ten percen to Robert A. Gray, Jr., ten ,percent to.

W am Burns, and fourteen percent to Beglnald Smith, all of Port Huron, Mich.

original apniic'auun Maren 31, 193s, semina.

Divided and this application November 3, 1936, Serial No. 109,018

s claims.

This invention relates to improvements in transmission mechanisms, and its objects are as follows:

First, to provide for the combined control of the accelerator, clutch and transmission of a motor vehicle. v

Second, to place the clutch and accelerator un'- 'der the control of one pedal so that the driver has only two pedals to operate, namely the clutch and brake.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following speciiication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a combined sectional and elevational view of the structure involved in the invention.

Figure 2 is a detail view showing the clutch-out position of certain linkage later described.

Figure 3 is` a sectional view of the combined clutch and accelerator pedal together with related structure.

Figure 4 is a fractional horizontal section taken` on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic sectional view illustrating the neutralization of the speed-change gear locking means.

Figure 6 is a cross section taken on the line G- i oi Fig. 5. L

This application is a division of an application for patent for transmission mechanism ledby Rollie R. Eastin March 31, 1936, Serial #71.915, As already indicated, the foremost purpose of the instant structure is to -provide for the combined control of the accelerator, clutch and transmission. Only those portions of the structure in the above application that are necessary to the 11nderstanding of the divided subject matter are herein disclosed.

In Fig. 1 the sloping foot-board 2 is pocketed at 4 to contain the clutch pedal 3. When said pedal is in its idle position (Fig.l) it is substantially flush with the Vfoot-board 2 so that the driver can readily slip his foot onto it preparatory to pressing it down (Fig. 3). A pivot pin 5 turnably connects the clutch pedal with a rack bar 6. 'I'his rack bar is movable up and down in the guide 'l of a casing l which is appropriately xed upon the vehicle. A slip-joint 8a in the rack bar enables the removal of the pedal when it is desired to lift the foot-board. i

The casing 8 has a bushing 9 attached to it for the guidance of a rod I which projects into the pocket at one end, its other end extending oil' to the linkage of the carburetor (not shown). Said rod and the unshown linkage are herein identified as the accelerator. it being plain that the rod Iii only lacks the customary separate Pedal to make the' identity complete. However,

A pair or shafts u, l is' jornaued on the sides of the casing 8. The top shaft Il carries a gear It, which may be fractional as shown, in mesh withv'the rack bar t. Aldepression of the clutch' pedal 3 moves the rack bar downwardly (arrow a, Fig. 3) and turns the gear counterclockwise (arrow b) A link I1 is pivotally connected to the gear. I6 at i8 and extends to a diskla on the bottom shaft, to which disk the link is pivoted at 20 in common with another link 2l that extends across to where itis connected at 22 to an arm 23. This arm is secured to one end of the clutch' fork shaft 2l. Said shaft is .iournalled on the clutch housing 25, and one end of it projects from the housing to receive the arm.

On the inside ofthe housing 25 the shaft 24 carries the clutch fork 26. .The operation here is on such an orderv that when the clutch pedal 3 is depressed as stated (Fig. 3) the linkage so far described. moves in the direction of the ar' rows c and d (Fig. 27, turning the arm 23 inthe direction of the arrow e and causing the clutch fork 26 to displace the clutch (not shown) into the clutch-out pesition. Astrong springzl, anchored at one and to .the housing v25 (Figi) and connected at thegother end to' the pivot 2l, tends to resist 'the movements inthe directionsof the arrows ,(Fig.2)l. and aids in restoring the parts to an original position when foot pressure on the clutch pedal 3 is relaxed.

A slot 28 in the disk ,'19 contains the stud 29 (Fig. 4) of a link 30 which extends rearwardly through an opening 3i in the casing 8 to a place of pivotal connection with the transmission release bar 32. Said pivotal connection comprises a stud S3 (Fig. 4) which is riveted to the bar 32. It provides an anchorage for one end of a spring 3l, the opposite' end of which is attached to a lug 35 on the bottom portion 36 of the transmission housing 31. The springs 34,11 work together in restoring' the foregoing parts to said original position when the pedal 3 is released.

The purpose oi? the slot 2B, which is arcuate as shown, is to allow an initial movement of the linkage 11,'21 and'farm 23 before the link 30 is affected. Thestud I! initially occupies a position at the upper end of the slot 28 (Fig. 1). De-

' pression of the clutch pedal 3 advances the slot 28 with respect to the stud 29 (Fig. 2). The engagement of the lower end of the slotwith the stud marks the beginning of a pull on the link 89 upon further depression of the clutch pedal. In the meantime the fork 2l disengages the clutch.

A shifting mechanism is disclosed in the original application for the purpose of producing any one of the following conditions in the speedchange gears: iirst, second and third speeds, reverse and neutral. The details of this mechanism are thought non-essential here, hence are not shown. it being sumcient to understand that when said mechanism is manipulated, back and forth motion is imparted to the shifting bar 82 (Figs. 1 and 4). This bar, like the transmission release bar 22, extends into the transmission housing 81. Only the largest 84 (Fig. 1) of three transmission drive gears in the housing l1 is shown. Driving power is applied to this gear and to the unit which the three represent, by a drive pinion 81 which is ilxed on the adjacent end of the drive shaft Il. The drive shaft extends forwardly into the clutch housing where it is subject to the clutch as already pointed out.

The splined driven shaft 1i is an inherently unconnected continuation of the drive shaft 88. It occupies a position in the housing 21, and carries a circular flange 18 (Fig. 5) from which two or more headed guide studs 19 project rearwardly in parallelism to each other and to the driven shaft. An assemblage of disks, collars and gear centers is mounted on the splines of the driven shaft.

'I'he first one of a pair of disks on said shaft (Figs` 1 and 5) is the transmission release disk 82. 'Ihis has an annular groove to contain the forked end 88 of the transmission release bar 82 (Fig. 4). The function of this bar, upon the depression of the clutch pedal 2, is to shift the disk 82 from the clutch-in position (Figs. 1 and 5) to the clutch-out position (Fig.; 3).` This disk has only the .two positions. Said disk is further mounted on the studs 19 which provide itsguidance as said disk is moved between said positions.

Each of a pair of gear release bars 8l is permanently secured atits left end in the disk 82 (Fig. 5). 'I'hese bars are diametrically opposite to each other, and they lie flat against a pair of shifter bars which begin at the second one of said pair of disks, namely the shifter disk 88. The latter disk is annularly grooved to contain the fork 81 (Fig. 4) of the shifting bar 82. When the shifting bar is moved by operation of the aforesaid shifting mechanism, thedisk 86 will take any one of the flve possible positions previously mentioned. Its range of movement is from the extreme right position in Fig. 1 (which happens to be .the 3rd-speed position), to one more step to the left in Fig. 5 which would be The gear center 9i is peripherally smooth-l faced (Fig. 6) with the exception of key. recesses 93 at diametrically opposite points (Fig. 5). The reverse gear 91 is aring gear, as are the others, the central opening being large enough to contain the gear center 9i with a turning t. Said gear and its center comprises a set, and they are kept that way by facing plates 98 which are riveted to the opposite sides of the center 9i.

'Ihe reverse gear'and its center are momentarily digressed from to consider the details of the gear release bars 84. Each bar extends from the disk 82 through the disk 88, all of the gear centers and all of the facing plates, projecting a considerable distance beyond the last vof the latter (Fig. 5). Each gear release bar has notches on its inner side, the ones concerned with the reverse gear 91 being designated |04. 'I'he notches in the two bars are in confronting relationship. Each notch is rather long, having an abrupt end |05 and a long incline |06, respectively at the left and right.

The shifter bars 85 also have notches on their inner sides, the ones concerned with the reverse gear 91 being designated lill.. Both ends of these notches are abrupt as at,|||. The two sets of notches |04, i i0 are adapted to be brought into registration by a release of the clutch pedal 3, which results in the movement of the disk 82 tothe clutch-in position (Fig. 5), following `the adjustment of the shifting mechanism to neutral.

Now `returning to the reverse gear and its center, the latter contains a key |I2 (Fig. 6) in each of its recesses 93. These keys are in the form of a U so as to provide an internal spring and bar space H3. A heavy leaf spring III extends into the respective space, its free end resting on the bottom of the recess, and the crotch H5 in its mid portion constantly bearing against a Across pin H8 in the key because of the spring tension.

'I'he gear release and shifter bars 84, 85 occupy the space II8 constantly, the keys being radially movable with respect thereto, first inwardly of the recesses 93 in the gear center then outwardly into any diametrical pair of recesses I|1 (Fig. 6) in the reverse gear 91 so as to lock said gear and its center together. The keys II2 then occupy both sets of recesses in the gear andv its center,

bridging the dividing line therebetween todo thev locking.

A further and the chief purpose of the cross pins ii 8 is to cooperate with the notches |04, H0 in the bars 84, 85. When these notches are brought into registration as stated above, the

springs Ill press the keys H2 into the recesses il1. Later, when the bars 84 are shifted relatively to the bars 85 .to the clutch-out position the movement of the inclines |06 across the pins I I6 moves the latter inwardly to retract the keys H2 from the recesses ii1. This releases the rotating reverse gear 91 from its center 9|, leaving the reverse position.l 'Ihen it would-be directlyffrthe-lattr-and thexiriven.iaitylLidle as far as beside the disk 82, but the heads of the studs 19 act as limiting means, stopping the disk 86 when moved into the reverse position. l

Four gear centers, 89, 99, and 9| are fixed upon the driven shaft 1i (Fig. 5). 'I'he gear centers carry the 3rd-speed, 2nd-speed and 1stspeed gears 94, 95, and 98 and the reverse gear 91 in the order indicated These are the speedchange gears previously mentioned. Since all of the gears and their centers are alike in structure, it is Just as convenient to confine the detail description to the reverse gear as to `any other.

driving is concerned until the next gear shift. H

The operation is readily understood. The inactive or clutch-in position of the clutch pedal' 3 occurs when there is no foot pressure upon it (Fig. 1). The transmission release disk 82 is then farthest to the rear (Fig. 5). The unshown shifting mechanism is understood to be standing 70 in neutral, and this adjustment is responsible for the so-indicated position of .the shifter disk 86 (Fig. 5).

'I'he one gear shift taken for example herein is the shift to reverse. The clutch pedal 3 is pressed down (F18. 3). The clutch is disensed by the resulting movements of the rack bar C the clutch-out position (Fig. 2). The position of the shifter disk 8i is unaffected as yet, the right end of the slot 28 being supposedto have 'just caught up with the stud 2l on the link 8l (Fig. 2). A further depression of the clutch pedal I until it reaches the final position in Fig. 3, causes the right end of the slot 2l to pull upon' the link 3b, displacing the transmission release disk I2 to the clutch-out position. The clutch fork 2l merely moves slightly beyond lthe clutch-out position.

The foregoing displacement of the transmission release disk l2 carries the attached gear release bars Il to the left, superimposing the solid parts of these bars adjacent to the long inclines |06 upon the'cross pins IIS. 'Ihe keys ||2 are thus held retracted in the recesses 93, and the shifter bars 85 are free to be shifted back and forth to make the gear selection.' The selection upon which this description is predicated is that oi' reverse gear.

Said selection is made at the unshown shifting mechanism and the adjustment is to reverse. The resulting effect upon the shifting vbar 62 (Pigs. 1 .and 4) is a forward pull. This results in moving the shifter disk li (Fig. 5) from the indicated neutral position one step to the left where it is stopped by the headed studs 19. The shifter barl notches Illl will now b e directly over the. cross pins lli. Foot pressure is relaxed gradually from the pedal 3. 'Ihe spring 21 causes the linkage I1, 2| to return toward the starting position (Fig. 1). The spring N (F18. 4)

causes the release disk 82 to return toward the clutch-in position (Fig. 5). As said disk moves toward said position the inclines |06 of the notches Ill gradually let the cross pins IIS move outwardly under the influence of the springs III. When the sets of notches I, H are in full registration, the keys H2 will have extended to their limits in the recesses H1, thereby locking the gear center 9| to the reverse gear 91.

The nal stage of relaxation of foot-pressure on the pedal 3, after the registration of the notches |04, has been completed, enables the linkage i1, 2| to complete the engagement of the clutch by means of the fork 26, the independent operation here being due to the movement of the slot 26 with respect to the now stationary stud 25 until the original relationship (Fig. l) is restored.

As the pedal is permitted to gradually elevate and the clutch is correspondingly let in, the operator will tilt the pedal 3 forwardly on the pivot pin (dotted lines Fig. 3) causing an acceleration of the motor by the operation of lthe throttle linkage. The accelerator rod i0 is thus capable of actuation by the pedal 3 simultaneously as the latter lets in the clutch.

The reverse gear 91 is to be considered as representative of the remaining speed-change gears. The foregoing sequences of operation are identicalin principle with/those already described when a gear selection other than that of reverse gear is made. The locking means to lock the selected gear 91 to the driven shaft 1| mainly comprises 'the keys H2, butthe gear center 9| and the registrable recesses 93, H1, are essential elements.

From what has been stated, it will be understood that gear-neutralization can be accomplished in two ways, ilrst by shifting the bar 85 f operating means including a pedal,

to neun-a1 by adjusting'the lshifting mechanism to neutral, second by shifting the bar 84 to neutral upon moving the clutch operating means y intoandpast the clutch-out position. It is in the clutch letting-in act of the pedal 3 that the accelerator is actuated; the rst part of said act shifts the bars 84 to the right to enable locking Y of the gear center 9| to the gear 91, the second part of said act actually causing engagement of the clutch so that driving power is delivered to the shaft 1|.

,I claim:

1. In transmission mechanism, speed-change gears and locking means to lock a selected gear to a driven shaft, means which is subject to a clutch operating means for neutralizing all of the locking .means when -said clutch operating means is in a clutch-out position, said clutch a ve-- hicle foot-board having a pocket occupied by the pedal and'in which the pedal is movable, and an accelerator rod extending into the pocket and capable of actuation by the pedal simultaneously as said pedal controls the clutch operating means.

2. In transmission mechanism, speed-change gears and locking means to lock a selected gear to a.V driven shaft, a clutch-operating means which in its operation is adapted to place a clutch into either clutch-in or clutch-out positions, means which plays over the locking means and is adapted t'o neutralize all of said locking means when said clutch operating means is in a clutchout position, said clutch operating means including a pedal, and an accelerator rod extending into the path of movement of the pedal so as to be operable for an acceleration simultaneously as i the pedal controls the clutch operating means.

3. In transmission mechanism, a speed-change gear and locking means to lock said gear to a driven shaft, an element which in moving relatively to the locking means is capable of either neutralizing thelocking means so that said gear becomes still, or' causing it to lock the gear and driven shaft together so that the gear revolves, clutch-operating means which when worked preparatory to letting in a clutch also moves said element to enable the locking means to gradually engage and lock the gear, said clutch-operating means including a pedal which is movable independently of the rest of said means and an accelerator rod in the path of said pedal and thereby capable of independent actuation solely by said pedal to cause a motor acceleration after the clutch has been let in.

4. In transmission mechanism, a speed-change gear, locking means to lock said gear to a driven shaft, an element that controls said locking means, either making the locking means lock the gear `to said shaft so that the gear is rotated or neutralizing the locking means so that the gear becomes still, motor-clutch operating means to engage and disengage a clutch so as to drive or stop said shaft, delayed-motion means connected between the clutch-operating means and said element to make said element pause in vneutralizing the locking means until after the clutch-operating means disengages the clutch and to cause a pause in the reengagement of the clutch until after said element has made the locking means relock the gear to the shaft, and an accelerator rod which is adapted to be operated by a part of the clutch-operating means to accelerate the motor as said means lets in the clutch.

5. In transmission mechanism, a speed-change gear, locking means to lock said gear to a driven shaft, an element that controls said locking means, either making the locking means lock the gear to said shaft so that the gear is rotated or neutralizing the locking means so that the gear becomes still, motor-clutch operating means to engage and disengage a clutch so as to drive or stop saidshaft, means coupled between the clutch-operating means and said element to make neutralization of the locking means lag behind disengagement of the clutch and to make clutchreengagement lag behind reengagement oi the locking means, and an accelerator rod which is adapted tobe operated by a part of the clutchoperating means as said'means causes reengagement of the clutch.

, 6. In transmission mechanism, speed-change gears and locking means to lock a selected gear to a driven shaft, clutch-operating means including a foot pedal by which the shaft is started and stopped, means under control of said clutch-operating means to correspondingly render said locking means operative and inoperative to suit the driven and stopped conditions of said shaft, and an accelerator rod situated in proximity to the foot pedal so that said rod can be worked by the pedal irrespective of the functioning of the pedal in operating the clutch to start and stop the shaft.

7. In transmission mechanism, speed-change gears of which any one is selective to drive a driven shaft, clutch-operating means to start and stop said shaft with respect to any gear selection, said means including a pedal, an element which reciprocatively and turnably carries the pedal', the reciprocation of said element and the pedal working the clutch, and an accelerator rod extending into proximity to the pedal and subject to be moved by the independent turning of the pedal on said element.

. 8. I n transmission mechanism, a foot-board having a pedal pocket, said pocketv including a floor, clutch-operating means including a bar projecting through the oor into the pocket, an accelerator rod projecting through the floor into the pocket, guide means for the respective rods depending from said floor, and a pedal wholly contained by the pocket having means by which it is pivotally mounted upon the rod of the clutchoperating means, so that a free portion thereof is superimposed upon the accelerator rod.

ROLLIE R. EasTIN. 

